River Road at Florida Street to close Friday morning

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River Road at Florida Street will be closed starting at 6 a.m. Friday to allow the installation of a sculpture on the Mississippi Riverfront. The street will reopen at 6 p.m. Saturday.
The Rotary Club of Baton Rouge donated the 14-foot spherical sculpture in honor of its 100th anniversary. The organization selected the design from San Francisco based-artist Po Shu Wang in 2015.
The sculpture features three stainless steel reflective spheres nestled in each other. It will be lifted over the railroad tracks and placed on a platform recently constructed on top of the Mississippi River levee.

The lifting machinery will occupy the intersection of Florida Street and River Road, causing a full road closure.

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The art was designed to be interactive with visitors and the flow of the Mississippi River. A sensor will be placed in the river measuring its speed and water level, then software will convert the data to sound frequencies, allowing the river to “sing.” Visitors will be able to “sing” back to the river, by either speaking into one of the spheres or pressing buttons. 

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Rotary officials said they raised about $350,000 to fund the sculpture. 

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